


See Heaven Flash

by Paraprosdokia (ChangeableConsistency)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Not his first rodeo, Tony- this isn't what normal looks like, Torture (cannon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-23 05:17:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/618514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeableConsistency/pseuds/Paraprosdokia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: For someone who was kidnapped by a group of terrorists, Tony was relatively calm.</p><p>I want to read about Tony’s previous kidnappings/kidnapping attempts. Maybe when he was a kid, or a teenager, perhaps when he was older and living by himself. As far as I know, he sort of met Happy while streetfighting/avoiding a beating-kidnapping</p>
            </blockquote>





	See Heaven Flash

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Prompt link](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/15134) by Anonymous. 



> Short fill, but it just wouldn't leave me alone. 
> 
> Title from "Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)" by Rob Zombie
> 
> Let me know if I have missed any warnings. (Personally I don't think it needs an underaged warning, but if the hivemind thinks otherwise I will add it.)

He doesn't actually remember his first time, just the aftermath; Papa was so very, very, angry, alcohol sharp on his breath as he shouted down at him, "Never again, Anthony! Never ever again! You can't accept anything from anyone! You can only trust family."  
  
And then there were lots of hugs from Mamma and her tears falling softly into his hair as she rocked him, "Oh, 'Tonio, my sweet, sweet, boy; I thought I'd lost you."  
  
\---  
  
He didn't know why Howard had been mad at the time; in fact, it wasn't until years later, after the second MIT kidnapping and a huge fight with his father that he found out that the time he  _remembers_  as the first was actually the fifth, "Oh for Christ's sake,  _Howard_ , I didn't tell them anything; they were total amateurs and I didn't need you or your government goons' help. I've been playing this game for almost a decade-"  
  
"Longer than that, Son, and you should know better than to-"  
  
"What? No, the first time was '76, I remember because I was able to lose the assholes in a bi-centennial parade and-"  
  
"You were three the first time, Anthony. Someone managed to buy the maid; she gave you a bear that was laced with a light narcotic-"  
  
"Jesus, Dad!"  
  
"And it took almost three days I find you. It nearly killed your mother."  
  
"Mamma- Mom doesn't know about this last one does she?"  
  
"No. And I rather not tell her."  
  
It was one of the last things he and Howard agreed on.  
  
\---  
  
"What is this, Tony?"  
  
"Just sign it and let's go. Spring Break's not gonna wait, not even for me."  
  
"This is a contract to be your bodyguard?"  
  
"Oh for- who's the senior here?" He loves being able to pull the senior card on Rhodey, it'll never get old, "Think of it this way, the old man's  _paying_  you to party."  
  
"Tony, it's twelve pages long and there's a torture clause!?"  
  
"Eh, it's nothing. We're not gonna get nabbed, and even if we do you don't have anything they'd want."  
  
"Torture, Tony. Torture!"  
  
"Chill out, man. It's nothing, you either keep your mouth shut, or run your mouth so they don't know you aren't telling them shit. I, obviously, am a master at the latter, but I'm thinking you should go with being the strong, silent, type. Plus, the chicks will dig it. This week is going to be totally _AWESOME_. I promise not to get kidnapped, you're gonna make bank, and we're both totally gonna get laid."  
  
"What the serious fuck, dude?!"  
  
"Look, after last year-"  
  
"What happened last year?"  
  
"Nothing, bunch of amateurs. I've had math tests that were more intense. Anyways,  _after last year_ , Howard's being a total dick and making me bring a bodyguard. But, he didn't say it couldn't be you. Now sign the damn thing and grab your shit so we can blow this pop stand."

\---

 

These guys are definitely  _not_  amateur hour. 

Howard's lessons echo through his mind,  _'You can't accept anything from anyone! You can only trust family.'_

They know exactly what they're doing and even before things get rough he figures out he isn't just going to talk his way out of this one. 

_'Don't tell them anything. Or in your case, tell them everything and say nothing.'_

Not that he isn't going to try.

_'Son, Stark's have iron in their backbone. You escape if you can, and give them hell if you can't. Live like a Stark. Die like a Stark.'_

When they start in on the heavy stuff he has to dig deep to keep saying, 'No', to keep resisting. He knows, deep in his damage heart, he is going to die; the alternative, putting the Jericho in their hands isn't an option. 

_'Stark's have iron in their backbone.'_

He's looked at it from every angle and there isn't an out. Not that he can see, though he is understandably distracted. 

It finally comes to him, water flooding his mouth and nose, pouring down his throat; he's always worked better under pressure, but it could also be due to the way his vision started to fade until all he sees is a thin ring of blue. 

It's beautiful, and it reminds him of a day Howard had taken him into SI and they had visited the Arc Reactor. Dad had swung him up on his shoulders and had spoken with such proud affection as they basked in it's glow. 

Tony's mind swims in the dichotomy of Howard's greatest achievement and his greatest mistake, greater than Tony, the mistake that cost him his life and that of his pretty, too young, wife; all his plans cut short by too much liquor and too little traction on an unlit road. 

_'You can't accept anything from anyone! You can only trust family.'_

He wonders what Howard's last thought was. 

_'Stark's have iron in their backbone.'_

It was years later when Tony had realized Howard's tone wasn't for  _him_ , it was for the monument to his own glory; for his vision of the future. 

But memories are tricky things, and that had always remained one of his favorites. It's no surprise that it's the one his mind picks as his last.

_'Die like a Stark.'_

And then there's a spark, dying neurons firing desperately and he sees it all in a flash. 

_'Live like a Stark.'_

He can't do anything lugging around 40 pounds of plastic and acid attached to his chest; but if he had something smaller, something powerful, he could do more than just resist. 

He could win. 


End file.
